Happy Constitution Day!

Test your Constution IQ!

Word Bank:

Republican, constitutional, Article I, judicial, Articles of Confederation, Declaration of Independence, republican, president, executive, establishment clause, senate, balancing powers/checking powers, delegated powers, equal protection of the laws, Bill of Rights, making laws, John Locke, legislative, Article II, house of representatives, freedom of expression, natural rights, Great Compromise(Some words/phrases may be used more than once, answers at bottom of page)

1) The Founders Fathers of America believed that life, liberty, and property were _________________.

2) ________________was an Englishman who lived from 1632 to 1704. He wrote about the importance of natural rights as a way of protecting the rights of people.

3) A __________________ is a government where people hold the power of government, the people give power to leaders they elect to represent them and to serve their interests, and the representatives are responsible for helping all the people in the country, not just the few.

4) A _____________________government means that there are limits on the powers of government.

5) Thomas Jefferson wrote the ___________________________ which provides basic ideas about people and government; reasons why the Founders thought they had the right to be free from British rule, and included complaints against the British king.

6) After 1776, the new state governments included ideas about ______________________rights , a _____________________ government, and a _________________________ government.

7) The states _________________________ included the rights of citizens. Some of these are the right to vote in free and frequent elections, freedom of speech and of the press, representation on tax matters, have a lawyer if accused of a crime, trial by jury, protection from illegal search and seizure, and protections from cruel and unusual punishment.

8) The first plan of government for the United States was the ____________________________ . Under this plan the power of the government was weak, it did not have money or the authority to get it, and there were no courts to settle disputes among the states.

9) The _______________________ solved the problem of providing equal representation in the government.

10) Each state would have two representatives in the _________________; in the ___________________the number of representatives from each state would be based on the number of people living in that state.

11) The power to make laws belongs to the ___________________________branch of government.

12) The power to carry out and enforce the laws made by Congress belongs to the ______________________branch of government.

13) The branch that settles disagreements about what laws mean is the ____________________ branch.

14) _____________________________ divides the power of the branches among the government and __________________________________ means that no one government can completely control the other branches.

15) The powers of Congress include: passing laws, taxing the people, raising an army and navy to defend our nations, declaring war, creating a court system, and coining money. They are part of __________________ of the Constitution.

16) Writing a bill, going to committee, getting a majority vote of Congress, and getting the president to approve the bill are part of the process of _____________________________.

17) __________________________ of the Constitution lists the duties and powers of the president.

18) The __________________________ acts as the commander in chief of the armed forces, makes treaties, appoints ambassadors, appoints judges, grants pardons for crimes against the United States, acts as the head of the executive branch, suggest laws and policies, and sets policies for dealing with other countries in the world.

19) The Department of State, the Department of the Treasury, the Department of War (now called Defense), and the Attorney General are advisors to the __________________________ .

20) Article III of the Constitution describes the responsibilities and powers of the ____________________ branch of the national government. This is comprised of the Supreme Court and of lower courts.

21) Powers given to the national government, state governments, national and state governments, and by the people are called _____________________________ .

22) The _________________________________, added in 1791, is the name of the first ten amendments to the Constitution. Many of the amendments give rights to people who were not given these rights in the original Constitution.

23) The First Amendment includes freedom of speech, press, assembly, and petition and is all part of ______________________________.

24) The _____________________________ clause says that Congress may not establish an official religion for our country or favor any one religion over others.

25) After the Civil War, the 13th, 14th, and 15th amendments were added to the Constitution to end slavery and give former slaves the same rights as other people and to stop state governments from unfairly discriminating against African Americans. The 14th Amendment includes the concept of __________________________ and means that state governments must not treat people differently unless there is a good and fair reason for doing so.

Videos

One year ago, thousands of Coloradans marched in a historic display of resistance. At the ACLU of Colorado we carried that spirit throughout the year, fighting on many fronts for civil liberties. We won’t stop now.

By canceling DACA, Trump has put 800,000 young people at risk of losing their jobs and being deported from the only country they know as home. Passing the bipartisan Dream Act would protect them. We asked four Dreamers why the Dream Act is important to them and their future.

James Fisher spoke at the ACLU of Colorado Bill of Rights Dinner about how he and the ACLU are working together to stop the criminalization of poverty for the thousands of Coloradans who are trapped in debtors’ prisons.

Our membership has quadrupled in the last six months, making it possible to do more than ever to protect civil rights and civil liberties in Colorado. Thank you to all our new members, supporters, and donors, and the ones who’ve been with us for years.